Hygienically enclosed machine and cup-dispensing structure therefor



United States Patent [72] Inventor Sidney L. Friedman New York, New York[21] Appl. No. 702,855 [22] Filed Feb. 5, 1968 [45 Patented Dec. 1, 1970[73] Assignee Lanex Importing Company v Lodi, New Jersey [54]IIYGIENICALLY ENCLOSED MACHINE AND CUP- DISPENSING STRUCTURE THEREFOR 6Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] us. (I r 141 103, 1411165, 141/174, 141/175, 141/373 [51] Int. ClB65b l/04, B65b 3/04 [50] Field ol'Search......

222/(1nquired); 53/(1nquired); 141/88, 103,104,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,896,210 2/1933 Vogtl4l/175X 2,827,927 141/174X 3/1958 Findlay Primary Examiner-Houston S.Bell, Jr. AttorneySteinberg & Blake ABSTRACT: A dispensing apparatusparticularly of the' type which is designed to dispense an edibleproduct. The product is dispensed into a container which is moved by amoving means from a given starting position along a predetermined pathto a receiving station where the dispensed product is received and thento a removal station where the container with the product therein isremoved. A control means coacts with the moving means to actuate thelatter first to move the container from the starting position tothereceiving station, then to stop the operation of the moving meanswhile the container remains for a given dwell period at the receivingstation to receive the dispensed product, and then to operate the movingmeans for continuing the travel of the container from the receivingstation to the removal station. The container is slidably supported on asuitable elongated support means from which a pair of end walls extendupwardly with the receiving and removal stations situated between these.end walls, a dispensing means being situated over the support meansbetween the end walls and a door being situated at the removal station,so that in this way for hygienic purposes when dealing with an edibleproduct the space where the product is dispensed is maintained away fromthe individual who removes the container from the removal station.

Patented Dec. 1,1970 3,543,812

Sheet 3 of 4 INVENTOR. SIDNEY L. FRIEDMAN BY MM ATTORNEYS FIG.6

Patented Dec. 1,197.0 3,543,812

Sheet 4; of4

I t U2 Z54 W l. 2Q O INVENTOR. f O SQ SIDNEY L.FRIEDMAN BY ATTORNEYSHYGIENICALLY ENCLOSED MACHINE AND CUP- DISPENSING STRUCTURE THEREFORBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to dispensers.

In particular, the present'invention relates to that type of dispenserwhich is designed to dispense a product, which may be edible, into acontainer. For example, the type of dispenser to which the presentinvention relates may be coin operated or manually operated to cause agiven amount of an edible product to be dispensedinto a container whichafter receiving the product is removed from the dispenser.

Many different types of v problems are encountered in dispensers of thisgeneral type. For example, the container with the product therein shouldbe removed from a part of the dispenser apparatus which is spaced fromthe location where the actual dispensing of the product takes place,when dealing with an edible product, so that'in this way the area towhich an individual has access for removing a container with the edibleproduct therein is spaced from the area where the edible product isactually dispensed, thus enabling this latter area to be maintainedhygienically separated from individuals who use the apparatus.Requirements of this type create the problems of providing, particularlyfor automatically operated dispensing apparatus, for movement of acontainer automatically first to agiven receiving station where theproduct is received in the container and then to a given removal stationwhere the container with the product therein can be removed. Thus, notonly is it necessary toprovide for movement of a container to a givenreceiving station where it will remain while receiving the product, inaddition it is then necessary to continue the movement of the containerafter it has received the product from the receiving station to aremoval station which is situated sufficiently beyond the receivingstation to prevent access of an individual to the receiving station.These latter problems are of course compounded by the requirement thatthe structure be designed in such a way that all except the removalstation be hygienically enclosed'so that the operator can only remove acontainer with the product therein from the removal station but will nothave any possible access to the receiving station. Of course, it isquite often desired to provide dispensers which are capable ofdispensing a plurality of different products, such as productsof'differentflavors, and of course this requires a multiplicity ofreceivingstations with the problem of-making it possible for theoperator to bring about stopping of the container at a selected stationto receive the product therefrom, and'then thereafter the container withthe product therein is displaced from the selected receiving station tothe removal station.

Up to the present time there has been no satisfactory solution to theseproblems. Any known structures which have attempted to solve theseproblems have been extremely complex resulting in exceedingly high costsand also-creating difficulty with respe'ctto adjustments, maintenance,and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a-primary object of thepresent inventionto provide aconstruction which will'solve problems ofthe above type.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide. arelatively simple structure which can be manufactured and assembled at'relatively low cost and which at the same time will operate varyreliably to achieve the desired dispensing of aproduct which may beedible while at the same time guaranteeingthe highest'standards ofhygiene.

Thus, it is a more specific objectofthe present invention to provide aconstructionwhich at a commandlfrom an operator will operateautomatically to displace a container first to a receiving station toreceive aproduct while the container remains at the receivingstation andthen to a removal station where the container with the product thereinis removed,

while at the same time'maintaining all except the removal staofcleanliness withv respect to theedibleaproduct while.

eliminating any possible inconvenience to the operator with aconstruction which operates in a fully automatic manner once thedispensing apparatus is set into operation.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to prowhere thecontainerwill'receive a dispensed product and forthen moving thecontainer with a product therein from the receiving station along thisgiven. path to a removalstation. A control means coacts with the movingmeans to actuate the latter first to move the container'from thestarting position tothe receiving station, to then stop operating for agiven dwell periodwhile the product is dispensed into the containerwhich at this time remains stationary at the receiving station, and tothen operate for continuing the movement of the container, which now hasthe dispensed product therein, from the receivin g station to theremoval station, The structure includes a support means which slidablysupports the container during itsmovement along this'given path, and apair of end wallsextend upwardly from the support means while there issituated. over the support means a dispensing means which is situatedbetween the end walls to define with the latter and the support means aspace in which the removal and receiving stations are situated. At thefront of this space is a door which is located at the removal station sothat access may be had thereto for removing the container from theremoval station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings which form part of this applicationand in which:

FIG. 1 Ba simplified schematic front elevation of one possibledispensing apparatus which includes the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken along line 2-2.of FIG.1 in the direction of the arrows and showing at an enlarged scale ascompared to FIG. 1 part of the structure for moving a container anddetails of the hygienic enclosure of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIG; I inthe direction of the arrows and showing at an enlarged scale ascomparedto FIG. I not only part of the hygienic enclosing structure but alsodetails of the structure for movinga container'and forcontrolling-themovement thereof;

FIG. 4 is a front sectional elevation taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 inthe direction of the arrows and showing further details of the:container-moving structure and the hygienic enclosingstructure;

FIG. 5 is a. fragmentary sectional. plan view taken along line 5-5 ofFIG. 4 in thedire'ction of thearrows and showing, at an enlarged scaleas compared to FIG. 4', details of the connection between av rotarycrank and a swing lever of the moving means which moves the container;

FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram of the electrical control structure; and

FIG. 7' is a view similar to FIG. 5' but showing another embodiment of astructure for connectinga rotary crank to the swing lever.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring nowto the drawings, thereisshown in- FIG. 1: a

dispensing apparatus 10' in the form of an upstanding cabinetthe frontof which isvisible in FIG. 1. Various panels" at the front of thedispensing'apparatus 10 include units suchas. the

coin receiving unit 12 which may be provided with coin return controls,for example, to return a coin to the receptacle 14 from which thereturned coin can be removed. There is also at a central panel controls16 which may be actuated for selecting one of the pair of differentflavors of an edible product which is to be dispensed, this productbeing, for example, a chilled product in flowable condition such as softice cream, sherbert, and the like. One of these selected products isdispensed from a dispensing nozzle 18 while the other of the dispensedproducts is dispensed from a nozzle 20, these nozzles being situatedbehind a transparent door 22 provided with a forwardly projecting rib-24 to enable the operator to grasp and operate the door 22 in a mannerdescribed in greater detail below. There is also a panel 26 releasablyheld on the cabinet by a lock 28 and behind which is located a conventional magazinefor containers which may be in the form of cups which aredelivered one by one from the magazine to be operated upon in a mannerdescribed below so as to receive the product.

As may be seen from FIG. 3, the front wall 30 of the dispensing.apparatus is provided with a frame 32- along the opening which is closedby the door 22, and this front wall 30 carries an upper guide 34 andalower guide 36 which support the door 22 for sliding movement to theright and left, as viewed inFIGS. l and 2. As may be seen from FIG. 2,an end stop 38 is carried by the'front wall 30 to determine the closedposition of the door 22. As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, a horizontalelongated supportingwall 40 is supported at its underside by anunillustrated supporting structure and extends horizontally at anelevation slightly higher than the bottom guide 36 for the door 22. Thishorizontal supporting'wall 40 has a front flange 42 and a rear flange 44which extends downwardly. to a lesser distance than the front flange 42.This wall 40 forms part of a support means which includes an upwardlydirected elongated channel member 46 having a lower wall directlyengaging the wall 40, and forming a surface on which a container isadapted to slide, so that the support means 40, 46 supports thecontainer C for sliding movement along a given path as will'be apparentfrom the description which follows. The channel 46 has a front upwardlydirected flange 48 and arear upwardly directed flange 50 and it is fixedin any suitable way to the wall 40. In addition the channel 46 is formedwith at least one drainage outlet 52 extending through an opening ofthewall 40 so that any suitable receptacle situated beneath the drainageoutlet 52 can receive spillage which melts and flows out through theoutlet 52.

At its right end as viewed in FIG. 2, the wall 40 is fixed with a rightend wall 54 which extends not only upwardly from the wall 40 but also ina vertical plane between the front wall and a rear wall 56 behind whichvarious mechanisms which do not form partof the invention are located.These mechanisms may include, for example, structure for receiving theproduct in liquid condition and for beating and refrigerating theproductto place it"in a pasty condition in which it is dispensed.

Adjacent the left end of the opening which is closed by the door 22,as'viewed in FIG. 2, there is a second upstanding end wall 58 parallelto the opposed end wall 54 and also extending not only upwardly from thehorizontal wall but also between the front wall 30 and the rear wall 56.As may be seen from FIG. 3, the end wall 56 is formed at its lowerportion with an opening 60 through which the container C is free topass,

the container C being deposited from a magazinewhich is behind the panel26 onto a portion of the channel 46 which is situated to the left of thewall 58, as viewed in FIG. 2. As may I be seen from FIG. 2, the channel46 is widened at its left end dicated in dot-dashlines in FIG. 2,although FIG. 4 shows a lower portion 64 and a part 66 of this magazinewhich is actuated in a known manner to deliver the containers Csuccessively to the starting position to the left of the end wall 58where a container is shown in FIG. 2. I

The rear wall 56 carries at its front surface between the end walls 54and 58 a discharge unit 68 of a structure" for dispensing the product,this unit 68 communicating through suitable conduits which pass throughthe wall 56 with the unillustrated structure for supplying the edibleproduct to the discharge nozzles 18 and .20 of the unit 68. Thus, thisunit 68 is located over the support means 40, 46, between the end walls54 and 58 and defines with thesupport means and the end walls as well asthe door 22 an enclosed space in which the product is dispensed. Thedischarge nozzles 18 and 28 of the dispensing means respectivelycommunicate with cylindrical barrels in which rotaryaugers agitateproducts of different flavors, respectively, for respective issuethrough the nozzles walls 54 and 58, and this backsplash; has at itslower region a' forwardly and downwardly inclined portion 72 also fixedto the end walls 54 and 58 and having a lower lip which will 4 cause anyproduct which runs down the backsplash 70 and its lower portion 72 tofall onto the support means 40, 46 to be drained therefrom and receivedin any suitable receptacle.

The door 22 fixedly carries a pair of horizontal rearwardly directedrods of pins 74 and 76. These pins 74 and 76 respectively fixedly carryat their inner endswhich are distant from the door 22 covers 78 and 80of cubicle configuration which are open only at their left ends, asviewed in FIG. 2, and at their top ends. The positions of these covers78 and 80 is such that when the operator engages the projection 24 todisplace the door 22 to the left, as viewed in FIG. 2, to its openposition, these covers 78 and 80 will assume positions covering thedischarge nozzles 18 and 20, respectively. The front walls of the covers78 and 80 may form portions of a single metal component 82 so as to lendrigidity to the assembly of the covers and pins. The elevation of thecovers with respect to the nozzles is apparent from FIG. 3. Although thecover 78 is situated in the plane of FIG. 3 tothe rear of the nozzle 20,it is shown in section in FIG. 3 for the purpose of more clearlyillustrating the structure. l

A return spring 84 is connected to the right vertical wall of the cover80, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4', and to the right end wall 54, for thepurpose of returning the door 22 to its closed position shown in FIG. 2when the door is released by the operator. a

As is apparent from FIGS. 2-4, when the operator displaces the door tothe left from its closed toward its open position, the covers 78 and 80will be. displaced to positions respectively covering the dischargenozzles 18 and 20, and the coverswill additionally engage the right endsurfaces of the nozzles, as viewed in FIG. 4, to form therewith alimiting means for limiting the extent to which the door'is opened.'ln

this way the operator can have access only to the region of the supportmeans 49, 46 which is adjacent to the right end wall 54, and this regionforms the removal station and being large enough to permit the operatorto insert his hand and conveniently remove a container C with the edibleproduct therein. Not only are the nozzles 18 and 20 covered by thecovers 78 and 80 when the door is opened, but in addition the limitationof the extent to which the door is opened will contribute topreventinganypossible access to the nozzles 18 and 20, so that with thisstructure the highest hygienic standards are maintained. After acontainer with the product therein has been removed from the removalstation which is in the region of the end wall 54, the operator simplyreleases the door and the spring 84 will automatically return to itsclosed position displacing the covers 78 and 80 to the positionsillustrated in FIG. 4 where the nozzles 18 and 20 are uncovered so thatthe product can be dispensed therefrom into containers in a mannerdescribed below. Thus, with the structure of the invention the areawhere the dispensing nozzles are located is hygienically enclosed and inaddition whenever the door is opened the nozzles are covered while whenthey are uncovered the door is necessarily closed.

A moving means is provided for moving each container C from the leftsolid-line position thereof shown FIG. 4, which is the startingposition, along a horizontal, straight-line path to the right to aselected one of the pair'of receiving stations which are respectivelysituated beneath the nozzles 18 and 20, and after the product isreceived in a container at the selected receiving station the movingmeans is operated to continue the displacement of the container with theproduct therein to the v removal station where the container is removedin the manner described above. This moving means includes an elongatedpusher member 86 of substantially L-shaped configuration having arelatively long horizontal leg which extends over the extension 62 ofthe flanges 48 and 50 in the starting position which is shown in FIG. 2,this pusher 86 having at its longer leg a front recess which receives atrailing portion of the container C while at its inner end the pusher 86has a downwardly extending relatively short leg 88 (FIG. 3) which isfixed in any suitable way to a slider 90 of the moving means. Thisslider 90 has a front wall of substantially square configuration (FIG.4) connected at its upper and lower edges to rearwardly directed flangeswhich extend inwardly beyond the upper and lower edges of an elongatedguide track 92 which is fixed to the rear wall 56 in the manner shownin'FIG. 3. At their inner portions the upper and lower flanges of theslider 90 fixedly carry angle members 94 which slidably engage the rearsurfaces of the upper and lower guide edges of the track 92, the frontsurfaces of these edges being engaged by the front wall of the slider 90in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

As is most clearly shown in FIG. 4 the front surface of the slider 90fixedly carries a pair of forwardly extending plates 96 which are spacedfrom each other but converge in a downward direction towards each other,and between these inclined plates 96 is received the upper free end ofan elongated swing lever 98 of the moving means. This swing lever 98 ispivotally supported for swinging movement about a horizontal axis by alower pivot assembly 100 the details of which are most clearly apparentfrom the lower portion of FIG. 3. When the lever 98 is in the startingposition shown in FIG. 4 its left edge lies flat against the leftinclined plate 96, while when the lever 98 is in the position 102indicated by a dot-dash line in FIG. 4, the right edge of the lever 98extends flush against the right inclined plate 96 of FIG. 4, and at thistime the container has been displaced to the removal station from it canbe removed upon opening of the door 22.

Thus, it will be seen that while the swing lever 98 swings between thestarting position shown in' solid lines in FIG. 4 and the end position102 shown in a dot-dash line in FIG. 4, the top end portion of the lever98 is free to displace itself up and down with respect to the slider 90which itself is constrained to move only horizontally along the track 92while the horizontal leg of the pusher 86 extends over and is locatedadjacent to the flanges 48 and to move the container C. Theconfiguration of the end wall 58 at its'opening is such that the pushertogether with the container can freely move through and beyond the endwall 58, as is clearly apparent from FIG. 3.

The moving means for moving the container C further includes a rotarycrank in the form of a circular disc 104 which is fixed at its center tothe shaft of a drive means 106 which is schematically indicated in FIG.3 and which includes a motor and gear reduction unit for rotating thecrank disc 104 at a uniform rotary speed. The drive shaft of the unit106 extends through an opening of the wall 56 to the front side thereofwhere the drive shaft is centrally fixed to the crank disc 104.

As is most clearly shown in FIG. 5, the crank disc 1-04 fixedly carriesdistant from its center a swivel pin 106 which has a shank extendingthrough anopening in a C-shap ed connecting member 108, while a suitablespacer v1101s located between the member 108 and the disc 104. Themounting of the member 108 is such that it is free to turn about theswivel pin 106, and the swing lever 98 extends freely through the C-shaped member 108 which thus provides a connection between the rotarycrank 104 and the swing lever 98. The rotary crank disc 104 is turned atall times in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, when the disc104 rotates, and thus the member 108 will coact with the swing lever todisplace the latter between the end positions thereof shown in FIG. 4and described above during a single revolution of the disc 104.

As is shown in FIG. 7, the swivel pin 106 may insteadextend through aU-shaped member 112 which carries a transversely extending pin 114 whichsupports a roller 116 between the forwardly extending legs of the member112, and swing lever 98 extends between the roller 116 and the swivelpin 106 in the manner shown in FIG 7 so that with this'construction alsoan operative connection is made between the rotary crank and the swinglever of the moving means.

A control means is provided to coact with the abovedescribed-movingmeans to control the latter to move a container C first to a selectedone of the pairof receiving stations whereupon the operation of themoving means stops while the container dwells for a given time at theselected receivingstation, and then the control means actuates themoving means to operate the latter to continue the movement of thecontainer from the selected receiving station to the removal station.This control means includes the outer periphery of the crank disc 104which is formed with a V-noteh 118 which actsas a cani of the controlmeans. Distributed around the periphery of the disc 104 aremicroswitches 120, 122, and 124, which are carried by the wall 56 andwhich have springy actuating portions engaged by the periphery of thedisc 104 for opening and closing the switches. In the starting positionshown in FIG. 4 the microswitch 120 is in an open position with itsspringy actuating portion received in the cam notch 118, the switch 120being a normally open switch. The switches 122 and 124 on the otherhand, are normally closed switches which are maintained in their openpositions by the periphery of the disc 104 in the starting position oftheparts shown in FIG. 4. When the camming notch 118 reaches the switch122', the V- shaped free end of the actuating portion thereof will bereceived in the notch 118 to 'close the switch 122 and in the same waywhen the notch 116 reaches the switch 124 the V-shaped free end part ofthe actuating member thereof will be received in the notch 118 to closethe switch 124.

Further details of the control means are illustrated in the wiringdiagram of FIG. 6. As maybe seen from FIG. 6, the electrical energy isderived from a pair of lines 126 and 128. The coin-operated unit 12 isshown schematically at the upper left of FIG. 6 and includes a'switch130 which is closed when a coin 132 is introduced intothe unit 12, asschematically indicated in FIG. 6. It is to be understood, however, thatinstead of or in addition to the coin operation it is possible toprovide a purely manual operation for closing a switch similar to theswitch 130. The unit 16 includes the schematically illustrated pair ofselecting buttons 132 and 134 which are selectively depressed forselecting one of the flavors of the product, arid when the button 132 isdepressed it'will energize a lamp 136 of the unit 16 and will close aswitch 138 so as to energize a relay RA. This will result in the closingof the normally open relay switches RAl and RA2. On the other hand,ifthe operator depresses the button 134' the lamp 140 of the unit 16will be illuminated and the switch 142 thereof will be closed toenergize a relay RB which in turncloses the relay switches RBI 146.However, the momentary closing of the switch 146 is sufficient to startthe operation of the motor unit 106 so that the microswitch 120 becomesclosed, and as is apparent from,

FIG. 4 and the above description this switch will remain closed untilthe disc 104 completes a full revolution. Thus, even though the switch146 opens after momentary closing thereof, the circuit through theselected one of the relays RA or RB is maintained closed through theswitch 120 and the conductor 148 which bypasses the timer 144.

The microswitches 122 and 124 are indicated at the upper right portionof FIG. 6. It will be seen that in the position of these switchesindicated in FIG. 6 if the relay RA has been energized, then through theswitch RA2 and the illustrated position of the switch 122, where theright side thereof is closed, the motor 106 is maintained energized. Onthe other hand, if it is the relay RB which has been energized, thenthrough the switch RB2 and the left side of the switch 124 which isclosed the motor 106 will also be maintained energized. If the button132 has been selected, then when the camrning notch 1 18 reaches theswitch 122, this switch will be displaced to the left, as viewed in FIG.6, opening the motor circuit so that the motor stops operating and atthe same. time closing a circuit through the unit 150 whichschematically represents the structure for dispensing the productthrough the selected nozzle. In this case it is the nozzle 18 which hasbeen selected for operation, and the closing of the switch 122 willresult not only in energizing the structure 150 but also in energizing atimer 152. This timer differs from the timer 144 in that it is designedto close switches 154 and 156 after the unit 150 has operated for agiven length of time. This time may be on the order of between 1 and 2seconds, for example, during which product is dispensed from the nozzle18 into a container situated at a receiving station beneath the nozzle118, and after this length of time the timer 152 closes the switches 154and 156. At the end of this time the unit 150 has stopped operating sothat no more product is dispensed and the closing of switch 154 willagain energize the motor 106 so that the crank continues to turn and theswitch 122 returns to the position shown in FIG. 6. Now the structurecontinues to operate to displace the swing lever 98 to the position 102and then to reverse themovement of the swing lever 102 back tothestarting position, whereupon the next container is deposited inadvance of the pusher member as soon as the next coin is introduced. p

Of course, if the operator has depressed the button 134 so as toenergize the relay RB, then the circuit is throughthe relay switch RB2,so that at'this time the operation of the switch 122 will have noinfluence. The relay switch RAZ remains open at this time and all of thecontrols take place only through the microswitch 124 which when actuatedby the notch l 18 acts to open the motor circuit so as to stop theturning of the motor and thus the turning of the disc 104 while the unit150 is energized to dispense the product in this case through the nozzle20. After the predetermined dispensing interval the timer 152 isactuated to close the switch 156 for again starting the motor so thatthe parts return to the position shown at the upper right of FIG. 6 andthe motor drives the disc 104 through the rest of its revolution untilthe notch 118 reaches the switch 120.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, after the disc 104 has turned throughslightly more than 90, the swing lever 98 will be located in theposition 158 indicated by a dot-dash line, and

when the spring lever is in this position the notch 118 will havereceived the springy switch-actuating member of the switch 122, so thatif the operator has pushed the button 132 the disc 104 will stop turningat this point and thus the container C will be located at the receivingstation beneath the nozzle 18. On

p the other hand, if the operator has depressed the button 134,

then the disc 104 will turn through approximately 135 to locate theswing lever 98 at the position 160 shown in a dotdash line in FIG. 4,and at this position the container C is located at the other receivingstation which is beneath the nozzle 20. Now when the notch 118 receivesthe springy-actuating member of switch 124 the disc 104 will stopturning and the container will remain for the predetermined dwell period.beneath the nozzle 20, after which the drive will again start, in

a manner described above, so as to continue the turning of the disc 104.7

During its continued rotary movement, after having stopped either in theposition 158 or 160, the drive to the swing lever' 98 is not interrupteduntil the disc 104 has completed a revolution. When it is turned through180 the swing lever becomes located at the position 102 and has itsdirection of swing reversed during the continued uninterrupted rotationof the disc 104 so that it returns to the starting position whereuponthe notch 118 reaches the switch 120 so as to open the latter andterminate all of the operations, as is apparent from FIG. 6. v

It is therefore apparent that with the structure of the invention inaccordance with the particular flavor of the product which is selectedthe container will be automatically stopped only at the selectedreceiving station to receive the selected product and except for thedwell at the selected receiving station the container is continuouslymoved from its starting position to the removal station and also theswing lever 98 is continuously moved except for this dwell period duringthe single revolution of the disc 104.

I claim:

I. In a dispenser, moving means for moving a container along a givenpath from a given starting position to a receiving station where thecontainer receives a product which is dispensed and from the receivingstation along said path to a removal station where the container withthe product therein' is removed, and control means coacting with saidmoving means for controlling the latter first to move said containerfrom said starting position to said receiving station, then to stopoperating for a given dwell period while said container remains at saidreceiving station to receive the dispensed products, and after saiddwell period to operate for moving the container from said receivingstation to said removal station, a support means supporting a containerfor slidable movement along said path during movement of the containerby said moving means, a pair of end walls extending upwardly from saidsupport means and between which said receiving and removal stations arelocated, a rear wall extending between said end walls, dispensing meanssituated over said support meansat said receiving station between saidend walls, and a door situated in front of said rear wall between saidend walls at said removal station to be opened for removing a containerat said removal station, whereby said support means, end walls,dispensing means, and door define a substantially closed space to whichaccess may be had only through said door at said removal station toprevent access to said receiving station for hygienic purposes in thecase where the dispensed product is edible.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a limiting means coacts withsaid door for limiting the opening thereof to an extent which rendersonly said removal station accessible.

product into the next container.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein that one of said end wallswhich is distant from said removal station is formed with an openingthrough which a container passes and through which said moving meanspasses, said starting position being situated at that side of said oneend wall which is directed away from said removal station.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said door is slidable andmovable in the general direction of movement of a container by saidmoving means.

